Education

EDMONTON—Public Interest Alberta is releasing A Fair and Just Alberta: Priorities for Change, designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in the coming provincial election.“The election presents a major opportunity for those who care about public services to make a difference in our province,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “It is important that we all take advantage of this chance to advocate effectively for much-needed revenue reform that will provide the foundation for much stronger public services, and to state clearly what should be the priorities for change.”

EDMONTON—The Alberta Government’s 2015-16 budget was released today and brought in some modest changes to our revenue system that will increase the tax load on average Albertans without touching the huge tax benefits for wealthy individuals and corporations.

“Alberta could have fixed our unfair tax system, which still leaves us $10.6 billion lower in tax revenue than the second-lowest tax jurisdiction in Canada,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “Instead, Alberta’s families will feel the impact of larger class sizes, fewer students enrolling in post-secondary education, seniors losing their drug benefits, and cities losing much-needed infrastructure funds.”

Dear Public Interest Alberta supporters: In the 2012 election, the Alberta PC Party promised it would fund full-day kindergarten for all Albertans. To date, it has failed to follow through on its promise and is now saying Alberta cannot afford it. The 30-second video below shows how making our tax system more fair would give Alberta the revenue we need for the government to follow through on its promise.

EDMONTON—Representatives of Public Interest Alberta (PIA) today released a report summarizing what the organization heard about unacceptable classroom and school conditions around Alberta in a recent online survey. The survey was conducted in November and December of 2014, and asked teachers, parents, educational staff and students to describe the situation in their classroom and school.

In the 2012 election, the Alberta PC Party promised it would fund full-day kindergarten for all Albertans. To date, it has failed to follow through on its promise and is now saying Alberta cannot afford it. This 30-second video shows how making our tax system more fair would give Alberta the revenue we need for the government to follow through on its promise. [VIDEO]

EDMONTON&mdashPublic Interest Alberta launched the first of five animated commercials today to build public pressure on Premier Prentice to fix Alberta’s flawed and unfair tax system so that we can invest in public services like full-day kindergarten in the future.

“If we don’t challenge the Premier to establish a progressive income tax and fair corporate taxes today, then in future years we not be able to invest in important services that matter to Albertans,” says Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta.

"While many school boards across Alberta, including those in Calgary, offer some full-day kindergarten programs, the province only provides funding for half-day programs, which requires boards to allocate money from their budgets. Julie Hrdlicka, outreach co-ordinator for Public Interest Alberta, said full-day kindergarten helps kids — particularly ones from low-income families that can’t afford costly early childhood care — achieve equal footing with their classmates by the time they enter Grade 1."

We recently had the below video commissioned to commemorate our 10th anniversary advocating for the public interest in Alberta. Please share it widely to bring greater awareness to what we do and the issues we advocate for. The video was made by Don Bouzek, and the music is by Maria Dunn. [VIDEO]

We have a new handout for our Alberta Could campaign! Check out the media section of our "Alberta Could" website, where you can download the handout and check out other materials from the campaign for fair taxation in Alberta.